


Loving you is a losing game

by ifeellikeiamamidget



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Boyfriends, Father-Son Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Parent Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifeellikeiamamidget/pseuds/ifeellikeiamamidget
Summary: [2x23]. A different version to my story called ‘Paralysed’. Oliver, Barry and the rest of Team Flash were celebrating the win after Zoom’s defeat but then the supposedly dead villain rocks up and kills Barry’s father. An Olivarry/Flarrow rewrite to the scene after Hunter Zoloman kills Henry.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Henry Allen, Barry Allen & Iris West, Barry Allen & Joe West, Barry Allen & Team Flash, Barry Allen/Oliver Queen, Oliver Queen & Iris West
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	Loving you is a losing game

**Summary** : [2x23]. A different version to my story called ‘Paralysed’. Oliver, Barry and the rest of Team Flash were celebrating the win after Zoom’s defeat but then the supposedly dead villain rocks up and kills Barry’s father. An Olivarry/Flarrow rewrite to the scene after Hunter Zoloman kills Henry.

 **DISCLAIMER** : i DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS NOR DO I OWN THE SHOW.

* * *

The house was eerily silent as Oliver walked inside cautiously. He was surprised at how silent it was, despite the oldness of the house’s structure. Not even the pipes were squeaking every so often. He turned his attention back to the car outside, housing both West’s. Iris and Joe were waiting for him to walk out with Barry, as the GPS on his suit had located him in his old house after he had chased Zoom around the city. He had taken Barry’s father, and they all knew he held no remorse for his actions for what he had done to Barry. 

Oliver slowly walked into the living room, his heart beating rapidly as he looked around the room. There was a pool of blood spreading all along the smelly carpets, and that same pool of blood was leaking from the gaping hole in the corpse’s chest. Tears stung in his eyes as he saw Barry sitting stoically to the left, his whole body completely limp against the firm couch. Tears were still streaming down the younger man’s face, despite his lack of self-awareness in the situation. 

Forgetting the literal dead body in the room, he moved to his boyfriend. Barry’s eyes were hollow, the light he had previously held was long gone, instead, there was a darkness inside. A darkness so strong it had taken him completely over, making him a prisoner to his own mind as he battled to comprehend the whole scenario. He wanted to grab him, pull him to his chest, slap him until Barry came back to him but he couldn’t. Oliver just couldn’t put himself through the tourture of hurting the already hurting man.

“Bear?” Oliver asked softly, reaching his hand ever so slowly out to his boyfriend. He didn’t even notice him. When his hand made contact with the unresponsive limb, nothing happened--Barry was so far gone he hadn’t even flinched upon contact. 

Footsteps brought Oliver back to the present as he turned around, coming face-to-face with Joe, his own eyes glossy with overpowering tears as he saw the lifeless man splayed across the room from his motionless son. Joe wanted to scream, shoot Hunter for throwing Barry back to that fateful night. His son had just recovered from one of the most traumatic experiences in his life and he was instantly thrown back into the darkness, drowning under the crushing weight of watching his father die right in front of him. Of course, people aren’t invincible. No-one lives forever but he always thought that after Henry returned to Central City, that maybe Barry would finally get a sort of peace from everything.

“Joe, can you find me a blanket for him, please” Oliver asked softly, before tearing his eyes off of Barry and on to the body in the middle of the room. 

The hole in Henry’s chest was huge, turning his once blue shirt into a purple filled with so much pain and anguish that Oliver couldn’t even find it in himself to be amazed at how powerful Speedsters could be. He always knew that Barry only ever had a license to kill whenever it was necessary, but Hunter didn’t have that willpower to not allow the darkness to cloud his judgement and take him over. Hunter had been consumed by his hurt, by the ache to just make the pain finally end so he did something about it. He turned his attention to inflicting pain among other people, just so they knew how badly he felt. Just so they could be exactly like him. 

Joe returned moments later, tears freely flowing down his face as he crouched down next to his son and wrapped the blanket around him. He took in Barry’s appearance. There was a long, thin gash above the boy’s left eyebrow, his face was pale, from the anguish and the way his stomach was churning unconsciously as his mind disconnected from the scene. Barry’s mouth was in a tight, thin line, clearly keeping him from openly breaking down from all of the pain he was feeling. His hair was sticking to his forehead from the sweat streaking on his face, that was the only thing that screamed a conflict had ensured, whether it was mentally or physically was still unknown. 

“Come back to us, Barr,” Joe said gently, sitting beside Barry and pulling the younger man to his chest as Oliver grabbed a tarp to cover Henry up. It was best that was covered up whilst they were going to try and coax Barry back to the land of the living. Oliver moved back over to Barry, his heart clenching as he remembered how happy Barry had been moments before Hunter arrived and took that all away from him. Seeing Barry with that smile on his face had been the highlight of his night, he just adored it whenever Barry was finally happy. The words that Eobard had spoken on the confession tape of him never being truly happy had been weighing down Barry for the longest time, preventing him from letting himself loose and enjoy himself for one night.

He leaned over and rubbed Barry’s arm, finally letting his tears fall as Iris walked in, the whole scope of the situation finally breaking the walls he had put up to keep his emotions intact. 

Why was Barry never allowed to be happy? Why did he always have to lose someone for the benefit of other people? It just didn’t settle right in the archer’s mind as he heard Iris break down into sobs. Henry’s death had hit all of the occupants in the room hard, but they all knew Barry was bound to suffer a fate far worse than death, and this was it. The loss of his other parent. He had watched, petrified, as Hunter had shoved his hand straight through his father’s heart. Not a care in the world as he watched Barry break down. He had single handedly broken the Scarlet Speedster for the second time. God, what Oliver would do to get his hands around Hunter’s neck, just so he could snap it, make sure he never hurt Barry again. No-one hurt Barry and got away with it. 

“Iris, Oliver,” Joe began, his words almost catching in his throat, “take Barry home whilst I call this in to the station” 

Both Oliver and Iris nodded, and despite their struggle to keep their own emotions intact, were soon heaving the unresponsive man to his feet, keeping their arms wrapped around him securely as he slumped against Oliver. His body was completely lifeless and drained of whatever willpower he used to have. 

* * *

The drive back to the West household was silent as Oliver held Barry in his lap, glad that his shaking had subsided. Iris had driven within the reasonable speed limit for once, as much as she hated that she had to. She had wanted to originally speed home, get Barry into Caitlin’s care as quickly as possible so he could finally talk to them. She just wanted to see her best friend whole again. 

There was a major struggle to get the lifeless man out of the car as Oliver struggled to climb out of the car himself. His legs had gone dead, whereas Barry was a literal deadweight in his arms. Once they did get him out though, Iris held the door open whilst Oliver brought the man in, placing them both onto the couch. He just didn’t want to let Barry go. Caitlin was the first to go towards Barry, she wanted so badly to cry herself over the situation but she kept her emotions in check as she was his doctor before his friend. 

Cisco stared at his best friend with concern and sympathy as he didn’t even react to Caitlin’s prodding around his body. Barry had already gone through so much, he didn’t deserve any more heartache.

Wally wasn’t even in the room, nor was Jesse and Harry, Iris noted as she scanned around the room. Tina McGee was silent as she sobbed, she didn’t want to be comforted, she just wanted to be alone, Iris had also noted as Cisco had gone over to her, to maybe give her a hug but she had turned him down. 

“He’s in shock,” Caitlin explained after she finished her medical exam. The tears she had tried her best to keep at bay had begun falling as she stood up from her crouched down position in front of both Oliver and Barry. The room was silent as Oliver held onto Barry tighter, like if he could, he could squeeze the last of his reserves out into the open just so he could see some life in Barry’s eyes. 

* * *

Joe eventually stumbled through the door two hours later, David Singh tailing behind him. Oliver and Iris turned their heads sharply to the door, sighing in relief when they saw it was just those two. 

“How is he?” David asked, motioning to the man tucked up on Oliver’s chest. 

“He’s in shock. Hasn't moved an inch since we found him at the house” Iris explained, seeing the worn out look on Oliver’s face. Joe sighed as he moved to sit in one of the arm chairs opposite the couch where his son was. 

David looked at the family with sympathy, his eyes casting over to Barry’s limp form more than once. He hated that his CSI had to suffer another heartache like this. He knew how much his mother’s death had affected the younger man, but now that he had lost his other parent, even in the same place his mother had met her demise, he had no idea how this was going to affect Barry. 

“I just wanted to see how you all were holding up, especially Barry” David explained, his tone shrouded in sadness. 

He bid his farewells, patting his CSI on the back before officially leaving the West household. Joe stared at both Iris and Oliver just so he wouldn’t have to remember the vacant look in his son’s eyes. He did not want to remember how painful it had been all those years ago to see that same kid in the exact same position as he was in tonight. 

“I thought he was broken the night his mom died,” Joe spoke softly and slowly. His tone underlined the heartache he was feeling for his son. He shouldn’t have to go through that again, “but seeing him in that house, unable to talk to us, tell us how he feels. I wanted to shoot Hunter, I still do” 

Oliver turned his attention back to his limp boyfriend. Barry’s eyes were wide open, but heavily unfocused. It was clear he was still terrified from Henry’s death. He had stopped mumbling incoherently a while ago but Oliver could still hear his frightened mumbles in his subconscious. 

“He just won’t close his eyes. Not even for a second” Oliver said, kissing Barry’s temple. Joe and Iris shared a look that was unreadable to Oliver but he didn’t care, he just hoped they knew how to help Barry escape his shock. 

“Caitlin explained to me that he might be in denial too, that’s why he just can’t relax,” Iris mentioned, sniffing. Joe stood up and approached his daughter pulling her into his side.

It had been a long night, one that seemed never-ending for Barry. Joe, Iris and Oliver settled down for the night 30 minutes later, their own minds needing a break from the sight of Henry’s lifeless body dead center in the middle of the living room. Wally hadn’t come home either, much to the sadness Joe was surely feeling. After what happened tonight, he just wished his youngest child could be there with them, to help keep the fear he was feeling at bay.

Oliver had managed to help Barry get into some sweatpants and a top and get into his bed by the time it was half 3 in the morning. He felt accomplished as he held Barry close to him, letting the younger man’s head rest in the crook of his neck. 

He wasn’t as trained in the area of grief as Barry was, only because only one of his parents had had an actual burial and he hadn’t had time to grieve his father whilst being marooned on an island in the North China sea for quite some time--5 years to be exact. But, he wanted to help Barry as best as he could, and the only way he could do that was put on a brave face for the hurting young man. 

* * *

The first nightmare occurred 2 hours later. The sun was shining delicately through the dark curtains as it brought warmth into the room. Barry had slid out from Oliver’s hold and had finally fallen asleep, finally putting his mind at ease after the horrific events that took place earlier on in the night.

The ear-splitting scream was what roused Oliver up from his light slumber. His eyes flew open as he felt the other occupant in the bed shift around. He sat up, tears in his eyes as he watched Barry struggle to grasp on to reality from the nightmare that was bound to be the death of his father.

“Don’t leave me again” Barry yelled, thrashing around the bed, “not again”

Tears streamed down the younger man’s face as he went through the pain of watching his father die in front of him all over again. Sweat dripped down his face as he moved around the bed, clearly too far into his nightmare.

Oliver grabbed Barry’s shoulders, pinning him down to the mattress. His screaming hadn’t vanished though, instead, he screamed louder, tears falling faster down his face as he squirmed around in Oliver’s grip. The screaming was so loud Oliver hadn’t heard Joe enter, to help try and ease his son’s anguish. 

“Wake up, Barry!” Oliver yelled, shaking Barry’s shoulders. 

Barry shot up moments later, his whole body trembling. Oliver wrapped an arm around Barry’s shoulders as the younger man looked around the room, checking for confirmation on if the nightmare had happened in real life or not.

“No… no… he’s not, he-he can’t be” Barry whimpered, feeling the walls that had started to rebuild crumble away once more, exposing his vulnerability to the world. Joe held sympathy in his eyes as he patted Barry’s leg, trying to show his support. 

“No… please.. n-no” Barry said once more, a hand going to his mouth to try and contain the sobs that were going to take his breath away. Iris cried silently as she entered the room, her heart broken as she watched her best friend struggle to come to terms with his father’s death.

“Barry.. I’m so sorry” Joe said, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched Oliver try everything he could to comfort Barry, try and get him to just stop thinking about everything and just process it all. 

Barry felt Oliver wrap his arms around him and pull him close, rocking him gently as he just cried. He cried until he felt numb of any emotions. 

His dad’s death weighed heavy on him, a lot heavier than his mother’s death ever did. He hadn’t actually witnessed his mother’s death, whereas with his father, he had felt the helplessness as Hunter taunted him using his father. He had watched in pure terror as Hunter happily ripped his father’s heart in two with his hand. His dad’s death was on him, he was the fastest man alive yet he couldn’t even save his father from a demonic speedster who was supposedly dead. When was he ever going to catch a break from the darkness?

“It’s all going to be okay, Bear” Oliver had whispered into his ear once Joe and Iris had left, leaving the two vigilantes to themselves.

* * *

_**I had started this at 1:39 am because I was just casually scrolling through Olivarry/Flarrow instagram edits and i stumbled upon this post that inspired me to write a One-Shot of if Oliver was there with Barry the night his dad had died and if they were together. I hope you all enjoyed this :)** _


End file.
